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Earth - October 31, 2011
It was over a month before either Rei or Makoto even dared to speak to Minako again. The first few times they had tried, in the days immediately after the fight, the blonde had snapped at them. Ami, who had gone back to Africa from the ship, didn't even know about the fight until she arrived in California for a double birthday party for Sarah and Usami. The blue-haired doctor immediately sought Taiki's help in getting her friends speaking again. Since tensions were still running high between them and Jinia still refused to step foot in the mansion, Taiki thought it best to have the party in a neutral location, and put Makoto, Rei and Minako in charge of getting things ready.
Now Makoto and Rei both found themselves decorating the rented hall with the blonde and trying to judge if it was safe to talk to her. As Makoto left the main area to check on the teenagers that had insisted on decorating the cakes, Rei decided that, if she was going to get mad, it was best she do it now, before the party got started. "Mina-chan ..."
Minako finished hanging the streamer in her hand, then turned to face the lawyer. "Yes, Rei-chan?"
"I ... how are you and the kids doing? In your new house. Kakyuu-san said it was quite lovely."
"We're doing okay. Ishi-chan, of course, is taking it harder than the babies, but she can at least see Kimi-chan at school." Minako walked over to the table that held the rest of the decorating supplies and began assembling a miniature plastic haunted house. By mutual agreement, and by a very vehement request from Mi-ko, there were no coffins anywhere among the Halloween-themed decorations. "You do know that you and Mako-chan can come over any time you like."
Rei nodded slightly as she moved to help the blonde. "I'll be sure to tell her. We just thought it best to let things cool off a little, you know?" She picked up a mini black cat and smiled a little when she saw someone had put a tiny gold sticker on it's forehead. "It even comes with it's own Luna-chan, I see."
Minako smiled and nodded. "Achilles did that. With a little help from Rei-chan. There's an Artemis somewhere as well." She sorted through the plastic pieces until she found the white cat with the little gold sticker and showed it to the other woman. "Rei ... just ask. Whatever it is you're dying to ask, just get it over with."
Rei placed the two cats side by side and smiled sadly. "Why? Why did you move out? It's hurting Usagi-chan." She turned to face the blonde and saw the other woman watching her intently. "Why are you doing this to her?"
"I'm not doing this to her, I'm doing it for her. For all of us. No, don't speak, just listen, okay?" Minako sat down in one of the chairs, motioning for the other woman to join her. "I knew it would hurt her, but there wasn't really a choice. I couldn't sit there any longer, watching her just ... exist. She isn't going to get better if we're all hovering around, catering to her every whim."
"Better? I ... I thought I was the only one that noticed." Rei sighed. She sat down then brushed her hair back from her face. "Luna doesn't seem to want to see. To her, Usagi-chan will always be the invincible Sailor Moon. And Naru-chan ... she's so busy with her kids, I ... honestly don't think she's noticed that you've even moved out."
"She has. She's been by the house several times, pleading with me to apologize and come home. But like I told her ... that's not 'home'." Minako smiled a little sadly, glancing up as Makoto joined them at the table. "Have they made a disaster out of the kitchen, yet?"
Makoto shook her head. "Surprisingly, no. Zoë and Juzo-chan are keeping a close eye on them."
Rei grinned. "If Juzo-chan is here, then we know where Mara-chan is. Or will be when she arrives."
Nodding, Makoto picked up a vampire toy and balanced it on her fingers. "Do you really think Usagi-chan is sick?"
"Yes, I do. And it isn't something that Hotaru-chan can heal for her. It's something that she's going to have to take care of herself." Minako sighed, toying with a ghost figurine. "But I don't think she's going to do it as long as we're around."
"But ... we can't just abandon her," Rei replied.
"I'm not suggesting that we do," Minako began. "I'm only saying that we ... need to take a step back and take a good hard look at the situation. Haru-chan and Michi-chan did that years ago, so did Hota-chan. Setsuna-chan has always been able to do it."
"So you're suggesting we move? Out of the mansion? Out of the city? To another country?" When the blonde nodded, Rei frowned. "I ... I don't think I can do that."
Makoto put the toy vampire into the haunted house that was to be the centerpiece for the main table and sighed. "I think I can." She looked up and noticed Rei had a shocked look on her face. "Juzo-chan and Zoë are moving back to Tokyo soon and ... and they asked us to go with them. Zara has family there that she hasn't seen in a long time and I ... I kind of miss it. Certainly not everything, but ... there are things I want Zeus and Soraya to have that they just can't have here. I ... I think I'm going to go."
Rei glanced between her two friends, her frown deepening. She could see the logic behind what Mina was saying and she knew that Mako would do what she thought best for her kids, no matter what. She also knew that losing the brunette as well would be hell on Usagi. But ... maybe ... "I don't think I can just move out, but ... perhaps an extended vacation would be a good idea. I have always wanted to go to Europe and now that the babies are a little older ..."
Minako smiled at the dark-haired former priestess. "A vacation sounds like a wonderful idea. I've always wanted to go back to London. When I was there, I loved the holidays, especially Christmas." She placed a hand on each woman's arm as an idea occured to her. "I know you're not a big fan of flying, Mako-chan, but I just had a wonderful idea. Why don't the three of us get together with Ami-chan and all go to London for Christmas? Even Usagi-chan, if she wants. We can spend the holidays together, without the hassles we have here."
Rei sighed. "That sounds like fun, but ... what about the others? I don't think we can find something on such short notice that will sleep everyone."
"We won't have to. The others already have plans. Setsuna-chan and Hota-chan are going to be spending the holidays with Michi-chan, in France. Fu-chan won't really be able to travel, so the Shitennou will be staying there as well. Naru-chan is going to Tokyo to be with her mom. Olivia-chan is going home to her family as well. And I think I heard Usagi-chan say that Nancy-chan can't make it this year. Ikuko-san and Kenji-san are going on a second, or is it a third, honeymoon to Hawaii and Usagi has already agreed to watch Yuri-chan." Makoto smiled as she placed a hand on top of Minako's. "And that's right before Taiki-chan and Kakyuu-san are getting married. Most of the Fleet, Jin-chan and all of their kids will be busy helping prepare everything for the formal ceremonies. So that just leaves Luna-chan and Artemis-chan. I haven't heard what they're planning, yet."
"They could always come with us, or enjoy having the house to themselves, for once," Minako replied. "Plus, kaa-chan did say that Alvarson-sensei was thinking about doing some work on the house, whenever he could find a section empty. This could very well be the perfect thing for all of us."
Rei allowed a smile to cross her face as she covered the blonde's hand with her own. "Fine. Let's get started planning. There is only two months left until then and it isn't going to be easy getting that many hotel rooms in London at Christmas."
"Most of the kids will be coming in costumes, then leaving immediately after to go Trick-or-Treating, with an escort of no less than ten members of the Royal Guard. Kakyuu has been insistent that everyone be guarded, especially the kids, just in case there are any more supporters of her former husband out there, intent on revenge." Taiki glanced over the decorations in the hall and grinned when he saw his three decorators currently involved in testing out the games. "Looks like you were right. Forcing them into the same room did make things better."
Ami nodded, watching her friends and smiling. "They just needed to get things out in the open. Now if we can get Usagi-chan to relax like that, this might actually be a fun party."
"Leave that to me," Sarah replied, holding up a thermos of liquid. "Aunt Naru has already taken care of 'spiking' mom's tea. She'll relax whether she wants to or not."
Taiki chuckled slightly, then looked at Sarah's outfit. "That's ... an unusual costume. What are you supposed to be?"
Sarah blushed slightly and readjusted the helmet under her arm. "It was Kimi's idea. She thought it would be fun if we all went as a group, so ... we're Power Rangers." She had seriously questioned her younger sister's sanity when she had come up with the idea, but had to admit, it wasn't all that bad. The helmet would hide her face from anyone else that happened to be out escorting younger siblings and if needed, she could transform into her alter ego without fear of being recognized. She posed for the adults and grinned. "The most difficult part of it was convincing Kageshirou to join us. Tavek said he thought it'd actually be fun."
"You got Tavek to agree to wear ... pink and black, is that spandex?" Taiki grinned, suddenly glad he had made sure there would be plenty of pictures of tonight.
"Actually, just black. The pink clashed with my hair color." Tavek chuckled as the older man jumped. He was dressed in a black jumpsuit that had a white stripe across the chest with smaller blocks of red, blue, yellow, pink and black inside. The helmet tucked under his arm was of a similar overall design, but had a completely different paint job. "Not sure what spandex is, though. 'Shirou is in red, of course, and looks similar to me. 'Rani and 'Tomi in blue, but they're supposed to be ... different ... characters?"
Sarah nodded. "'Rani is the original Blue Ranger and 'Tomi is a ... Millennium Ranger? or something like that. I don't really remember. Kimi's also one of the blue ones, 'Sami's wearing green ... as is Noi, by the way-"
"Noi? Isn't he one of the people from 'Shirou-chan's ship?" Ami asked, glancing at the former Commander.
"Yes, he was. Most of our crew was forced into early retirement by Kakyuu-hime. Some of them went to other ships to live with family, some came to Earth. Noi came to Earth," Tavek replied. "He's taking classes at ... uh, I can't really remember the name of the school right now, but it's a bunch of letters that don't really spell anything."
Taiki chuckled. "U-C-L-A. Noi, it turns out, is a gifted Architect. Alvarson-san has already asked him for his help in remodeling the mansion." He grinned slightly when he spotted Noi walking into the room, just a few steps behind Usami. "But I think the real reason he came to Earth is 'Sami."
Ami glanced over at the entrance and saw the two green-clad aliens walking with Urani and Tanetomi, both in blue, but both of the girls' tops were almost half-black. The green-haired part-Vexan was watching Usami, especially when he thought she wouldn't notice. Ami smiled and glanced at Taiki. "What does Kakyuu-san think of that?"
Tavek chuckled slightly. "She was adamant that 'another one of her kids was NOT going to become involved with a spacer'. So she made him retire from the Fleet. But I don't think Usami-hime even knows he likes her."
"Tell me again why I agreed to this?"
"Because it's my birthday and I asked you. I also promised you that I'd give you nightmares for a month if you didn't."
"Oh. Yeah, that was why."
Urani chuckled at the two girls and glanced over at Noi. "So why did you agree to this?"
"Commander Tavek reccomended that we blend ourselves into your group. He suggested that it would be easier to keep an eye on everyone this way," Noi replied, pulling at the tight white collar. "Although, I'm not entirely sure that I agree."
Usami spun to face him. "You're disagreeing with your Commander?" She grinned at the slight blush on the older man's face. "We just might make a land-lover out of you yet."
Tanetomi chuckled. "You're thinking of pirates, 'Sami. The term you're looking for is 'dirt-rat'. At least, that's what 'Shirou used to call us when he first joined."
Noi grinned. "That is better than what some people would say. Although never about members of the StarLight or the Imperial Families."
"Yeah, they were always too afraid our Demas would find out. And you certainly never wanted to tick off the people in charge." Urani glanced at the helmet under his arm, then frowned. "This isn't mine. Mine doesn't have a logo on it, it's supposed to look like ... an animal?"
"Oops, I think you got mine," Tanetomi replied. She glanced at the one in her hand, then swapped with the younger alien. "Yep, this one's mine. Must have gotten mixed up in the car on the way over here."
"Which is why I'm glad Kimi-chan suggested making each one of these silly things different," Usami replied. "It's going to be bad enough to keep up with who's who, without getting the helmets mixed up."
"There is a list that Commander Kageshirou put together based on Miss Chiba's advice. It can be accessed through the hemlets and will display on the inside of the visors. There are images for each character, as well as the name of who is inside the costume. All the helmets also have communicators and tracking beacons." Noi frowned slightly at the look he got, then shrugged. "Just in case there are other ... Rangers? out ... there."
Tanetomi watched the older man for a long moment before shaking her head and looking at Usami. "We're never going to get this guy to relax and stop thinking like a soldier, are we?"
Usami shrugged, hooking her free arm through Tanetomi's and walking over to where the original Pink Ranger was gathering the younger members together. "Doubtful. But maybe next time, we go for costumes that are nothing but fluff. I'm thinking he'd make a good White Rabbit."
"Nah, he'd always be early. Mad Hatter, maybe."
"No, that's 'Vek. With 'Shirou as the March Hare. Doormouse?"
Noi pulled Urani to a stop and watched the two girls for a moment as they walked away. "What are they talking about?"
Urani shrugged. "I think it's from a movie Rei-chan made them watch. Something about a mirror world and a woman that liked to chop off people's heads."
Pulling at the tight collar again, Noi sighed. "Next time, I stick with my own uniform."
